The sci-fi fantasy is nominated in multiple awards categories, including best director, at the pan-Asian event.

SEOUL -- South Korean sci-fi fantasy Snowpiercer received seven nominations at the Asia Pacific Film Festival (APFF) awards, its local distributor CJ Entertainment announced Tuesday. The 56th edition of the event will take place Dec. 13-15 in Macau.

APFF was launched in 1954 in Japan and has since been rebranded as the pan-Asian event it is known as today. A total of 18 countries in the Asia Pacific region take part.

The film, directed by Bong Joon Ho, has been nominated in the categories of best director, supporting actors (Tilda Swinton and Song Kang-ho), cinematography (Hong Kyung-pyo), editing (Steve M. Choe and Kim Chang-ju), sound design (Choi Tae-young) and production design (Ondrej Nekvasil).

The year's second-highest-grossing South Korean film, with 9.34 million admissions, Snowpiercer is Korea's most expensive film ever, with a budget of $39.2 million. It is also Bong's first English-language project. The dystopian story, based on a French graphic novel, also broke records for local cinema at the French box office in October.

It swept prizes at major South Korean film awards, including the Dae Jong (Grand Bell) Film Awards, Blue Dragon, and Korean Film Critics Awards. It has also been invited to international film festivals in Busan, Deauville, Hong Kong and Rome, among others.